journalsPermissions.nav Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety Editorial

ADME is the four-letter acronym for absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion that has described pharmacokinetics for 50 years. These terms were first presented together in English by Nelson in 1961, rephrasing resorption, distribution, consumption and elimination used by Teorell in 1937 [Nelson, 1961; Teorell, 1937]. Other relevant semi-nal works include Widmark’s description of first-order elimination in 1919 and Dost’s 1953 treatise defining the term pharmacokinetics [Widmark, 1919; Dost, 1953]. ADME(T) has become a stand-ard term, widely used in the literature, in teaching, in drug regulation and in clinical practice. ADME, as originally used, stood for descriptors quantifying drug: entering the body (A), movin